OTTAWA — In a stunning upset, Liberal MP Justin Trudeau brawled his way to a third-round TKO victory over Conservative Sen. Patrick Brazeau. The referee stopped the fight in third and final round.

This came after several halts during which the referee had Brazeau do a standing count to see if he was fit to continue.

It was an astonishing turn of events, which followed weeks of speculation that Trudeau would not only be beaten, but injured. Brazeau was a three-to-one favourite to win. He has a background in martial arts and formerly served as a reservist in the Canadian Forces.

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Following his victory, Trudeau was hoisted on the shoulders of his supporters. The slender eldest son of Pierre Trudeau, who was expected to box his way to a points-only finish, instead pounded his foe into submission with a series of unschooled but powerful haymakers. In the second round, his attack became unrelenting and Brazeau was clearly exhausted.

Brazeau started strong and tried to overpower Trudeau in the first round. However he didn’t manage to rock him and Trudeau came back much stronger in the second, and even stronger still in the third.

Afterward, Brazeau conceded defeat and congratulated his foe, but also asked for a rematch. Trudeau, meanwhile, congratulated Brazeau and said he’d “fought a great fight.”

A well-heeled audience arrived at Ottawa’s Hampton Inn early, decked out as fight crowds tend to be, with many men in power suits and tuxedos and women in skin-tight sheaths, high heels and miniskirts. By the time the first of seven fights on the card began, at about 8:30 p.m. local time, the hall was standing-room only and swelteringly hot.

The crowd roared when Trudeau appeared on a pre-fight video, but cheered even louder when Brazeau appeared onscreen. Through the early part of the evening, attendees were shown videos of the boxers. The seven-fight amateur card was organized by Final Round Boxing of Ottawa as a fundraiser for the Ottawa Regional Cancer Foundation. The Trudeau-Brazeau fight was the last on the card.

Congrats to @TheBrazman & @justinpjtrudeau for their fight for the cure. And for reminding us the value of underpromising & overdelivering. — Tony Clement (@TonyclementCPC) April 1, 2012

As of Saturday night, the event had raised more than $230,000 for the cancer foundation — $30,000 of that raised by the fighters themselves.

Trudeau, ever the affable politician, was on site by 6 p.m. local time and made a point of shaking hands and posing for photos. Brazeau arrived about an hour later and went through the same routine with a throng of admirers.

Asked whether he thought the fight would end earlier than the designated three two-minute rounds, Brazeau suggested it was a possibility. “I don’t think he’s one that can take a punch,” the senator said of Trudeau. “But he does have a pretty decent jab. He just has to look out for my countering abilities.”

As it turns out, Brazeau was hugely overconfident.

This means that Brazeau will now, by prior agreement, cut short his long hair in the House of Commons foyer on Monday, and wear a Liberal jersey for a week.

In a chat with reporters before dinner, Trudeau recalled how he’d suggested to Brazeau that the loser of the bout shave their long, flowing locks outside the House of Commons. While Brazeau resisted the bet at first due to his First Nations heritage, Trudeau persuaded him, he said.

Going in, Brazeau had let it be known that he intended to knock Trudeau out. Instead the reverse happened.

At five-foot-10, 183 pounds and 37 years old, Brazeau had trained five days a week for four months. At 40 years old and 180 pounds, Trudeau is both older and of slighter build than Brazeau (though he is also considerably taller, at six-foot-two).

In pre-fight media appearances Trudeau was all good nature and toothy grin, whereas Brazeau at times had the demeanour of a scrapper with something to prove. Saturday evening for the fight, however, Brazeau stressed the charitable aspect. “We’re all winners,” he said.

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